Immigration Records Request — Paid Consultation on A-File and USCIS Records
A paid consultation with Sherrod Seward, Esq. on immigration records — the A-File, the adjudication record, and what is missing from what you received.
Immigration records are the highest-volume corner of FOIA and they behave differently from the rest of it: different agencies hold different pieces of the same story, and the file you need is often split across USCIS, CBP and the State Department. You will leave the call knowing which agency actually holds what you are looking for, what the response you already have is missing, and whether the gaps are lawful withholdings or a search that fell short.
Prefer to speak to someone first? +1 (202) 999-3631
Request the consultation
Six fields. About a minute.
Bring the call one of these
- You need the A-File and are not sure which agency to ask or how.
- The file came back with the part you needed redacted.
- You need records for a proceeding that already has a date.
- You are trying to see the notes behind a denial or a request for evidence.
- You asked once, heard nothing, and do not know what the next step is.
This office has been the plaintiff, not only the drafter
Law Offices of Sherrod Seward, PLLC v. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
No. 3:25-cv-00057 (W.D.N.C.), filed January 2025
This office has been the plaintiff in a Freedom of Information Act case, not only the drafter of the request. When an agency declined to produce records, the firm filed suit in its own name under 5 U.S.C. 552 to compel production.
A pending matter is described here as a fact about this office's own experience. It is not a result, it does not predict anything about any other case, and every case is decided on its own record. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
How it runs
- Send the enquiryThe form below. Six fields, about a minute.
- Pay the consultation fee$500, on the firm's secure payment page. Credited in full against the fee for the engagement if this office is engaged on the matter.
- The consultationThe call itself. Bring the request, the response letter and the envelope — deadlines run from what the paper says.
- A written summaryWhat was decided, what the next step is, and the date it has to happen by.
Watch first
Questions people actually ask
What do I actually get for the fee?
The $500 is the fee for the consultation itself and for the written summary that follows it. It is not a retainer, and it does not include drafting or filing a FOIA request, an administrative appeal, a licence application, a delisting petition, a federal court complaint, a trademark application, a response to a USPTO office action, or a post-registration maintenance filing - each of those is separately scoped and separately quoted. Government, agency and court filing fees, any agency search, review or duplication fees, and any USPTO filing fees, are not included and are payable to the government, not to this office.
Is this legal advice?
The consultation is. This page is not — it is general information about federal practice, and reading it creates no relationship with this office. Sending this form does not create an attorney-client relationship. No attorney-client relationship is formed until this office and you have signed a written engagement agreement.
Can you tell me what my chances are?
You will get a candid assessment of what your record supports and where it is thin, which is the useful version of that question. What you will not get is a percentage. Every matter is decided on its own record by a government officer or a judge, and prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
What happens if you cannot help?
You will be told so on the call, and told where the matter actually belongs. That happens often enough to be worth saying out loud.
Is this the same as the firm's USCIS recovery engagement?
No, and it is worth being clear about the difference. This is a paid consultation about a records problem — what to ask for, from whom, and what to do about what came back. This office also runs a separate, separately-priced limited-scope engagement for petitions where USCIS has gone silent after filing. If that is actually your situation, say so on the form and you will be pointed at the right one rather than sold this one.
Can I get someone else's immigration file?
Generally only with their written consent, and the consent has to be in the form the agency accepts. Records about a third party are also where the personal-privacy exemptions do the most work. What you can get, and on what basis, depends on who you are to the person whose file it is.